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Jim Nill a home run GM hire for the Stars

Kevin Allen, USA TODAY Sports
2:35 p.m. EDT April 29, 2013

New Stars general manager Jim Nill was the assistant GM in Detroit for 15 years, playing a crucial role in the team's success. The Red Wings have made the playoffs in 22 straight seasons.(Photo: Tony Gutierrez, AP)

Story Highlights

Nill was the assistant GM in Detroit for 15 years

The Red Wings have made the playoffs in 22 straight seasons

The Stars figure to benefit greatly from Nill's draft and player-development success

The Dallas Stars' hiring of Jim Nill as their new general manager is the managerial equivalent of landing the best player available in the free agent marketplace.

For the last several years it was generally accepted that Detroit Red Wings assistant GM Jim Nill should be the top candidate for any GM opening. But the circumstance was never quite right for Nill to make the jump. There were family concerns, and everyone who knows Nill knows family comes first.

What makes Nill a home run hire is that he has played a significant role in managing a Detroit operation that has made the playoffs for 22 consecutive seasons. That's hugely important for a Stars franchise that hasn't qualified for the postseason since 2008.

Nill has been Detroit GM Ken Holland's First Lieutenant for 15 years, and he's been shepherding the Red Wings' draft for years, the same draft that has kept the Detroit cupboard stocked well enough to stay competitive for more than two decades.

Last Saturday night when the Red Wings defeated the Stars to clinch seventh place, they did it primarily with players who were drafted and developed on Nill's watch. Because the Red Wings are always in the playoffs, Nill has never had an early first round pick. To him, it will probably feel like he hit the lottery when he picks No. 10 or No. 11 for Dallas in June.

It seems like a given that the Dallas feeder system will now improve dramatically with Nill in charge. He has a proven track record in that department.

But don't undersell Nill's ability to guide a team on a day-to-day basis. Holland has always leaned on his cabinet of advisers before he made his major decisions and Nill has always been a key member of that cabinet. He's been in Detroit's war room for every decision made over the past 15 years. He has lived through every key decision that a GM has to make.

Nill's other strength is his personality and character. You won't find anyone around the hockey world who would have an unkind word about Nill. On the question of character, this is a man who joined with 275 other members of his church last fall to a run a marathon to raise money to bring clean water to a community in the African country of Zambia.

Originally, his wife had planned to run with the group, but her cancer treatment made it difficult for her to train. So Nill said he would take her place. He said he never liked running, but he trained hard, and ran every step of the Chicago marathon last fall.

Nill is also a friendly personality, the kind of manager that is needed in Dallas where they have lost fans because of their struggles in recent years. This is a GM who is going to talk to fans when he runs into them on the street. That's just his nature.

The hiring of Nill is a big deal for the Dallas franchise, like the signing a big name free agent. It's bigger than signing Jagr last summer because Nill has a more good years left in him than Jags did.